the Story Untold
by And The Adversary Succeeds
Summary: Something has arrived on Spira. A nightmare from beyond the stars. Its very existence is a threat. And those that hunt it are about to discover that it is not the only horror that has come to this world. Ch. 2 posted.
1. In the Dark

1: In the Dark

The crash of thunder made her flinch. The brief flash of light illuminated the dark, dank world around them. It let her see herself. It was so dark that she couldn't see her hands in front of her face. It also let her see her captor.

He was sitting against the wall in front of her. One leg drawn close to his body, the other laid flat on the ground. His head was hung, and his right arm was propped on his knee. From what she had seen of him before he captured her, he was close to seven feet tall, maybe six-foot five. Black hair hung down and covered his right eye, but parted around the left. His eye was black. The iris was the same color as the pupil, so it seemed as like one circle. His skin, the little that was visible, was deathly pale. He wore a black leather jacket that hung down to the ground. From the side, the collar hid half his face. Underneath the jacket was a black, long-sleeved shirt. His pants were baggy, black as well, and tucked into black boots that reached to his knees. His hands were covered by black leather gloves, the one on his right, though, was a little thicker. A second belt was fastened around his waist, and it was leaning to the left. The sword and scabbard that had once been chained to the belt was now in his left hand.

He was quiet. She didn't even know his name. He didn't know her name, either. She figured, though, that this was a good a time as any to at least try and get something out of him.

"Hey." she said quietly. Her voice was drowned out by the falling rain and booming thunder. "Hey!" she said, a little louder this time. It was dark again, so she couldn't see him.

"What?" he grunted.

She was somewhat surprised he answered, "What's your name?" she asked.

She heard the scabbard drag along the ground. The metal tip scraping on the stone floor, "River."

"Rikku." she said, "I would say nice to meet you, but given the circumstances . . you kidnapping me and all."

"Look at it whatever way you want, I don't give a damn." River muttered. He sounded tired.

"You kidnapped me!" Rikku accused. "Unless I'm wrong, kidnapping is when you take someone against their will."

"Okay . . then I kidnapped you." there was a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Why?" Rikku asked. "To hold me for ransom? To murder me? To ra-" her voice caught in her throat. She had considered the last possibility, but voicing it made it seem so much worse.

"No."

"Yeah, like I'd believe you."

"You'd have me pegged a hypocrite, then." River said bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"Never you mind." he sighed.

"At least I got you to talk." Rikku mumbled. She almost leaned back against the wall, but stopped quickly. She had done the same thing earlier. The wall was wet and cold, and she had hated the feeling. So she crossed her arms over her chest and drew her legs in.

"I'm guessing you're cold?" River asked.

"Duh."

"Hmm." she heard him sigh, it almost sounded like he missed something.

"So how long are we just gonna sit here in the dark?" she asked. "It's driving my crazy! How can you stand-"

"I happen to like the dark. Also, you may not be able to see, but I can." River said, tone flat. Rikku had the sudden feeling like she was being watched. It made her shiver.

Rikku frowned, "Okay, but that doesn't answer my first question."

"We stay here until it's safe."

Rikku blinked, of course she could hardly tell she had in the dark, "Safe?" she felt anger rising in her. "_Safe!? _Safe from what? Are you kidding me?! You kidnapped me! What could you possibly be protecting me from?! I can handle fiends! I don't need-" she stopped dead. She heard a noise that shocked her. It took her brain a few seconds to realize that he was chuckling. "What is so funny?" she asked, her anger evident in her voice.

She heard him move, it sounded like he was leaning forward. The fact she couldn't see him made it even more frightening, "There is something far worse than fiends out there right now. And if you knew what it was, you'd thank me."

Rikku snorted, "Yeah. Nice try."

She heard him move back against the wall, "Believe me or don't believe me. I really don't care."

They sat there for who knew how long. Rikku found herself getting tired. A sudden flash of lightning made her jump. She was able to see him, River, again. He was staring towards the direction of the entrance to the cave. It was around a corner not too far away. Another flash followed quickly, and she saw his dark eye was now upon her.

A few minutes later, with the monotonous rain pounding outside, and the booming thunder now just a dull beat in her ears, she started to drift off. But she couldn't allow herself to fall asleep. For all she knew, he was waiting for her to fall asleep so that he could rape her. But she was beginning to doubt that. He could have done that already.

Her eyelids felt heavy. Her head started to bob as she tried to stay awake. She would lift her head every now and then, realizing that she'd drifted off for a minute.

"You're tired." the voice made her jump, and her eyes searched the darkness before her in vain. "Don't fight it. You're in no danger."

"Why, because you're here?" Rikku asked dryly.

"You could say that."

The thief rolled her eyes, "Yeah." she shivered and wrapped her arms tighter around herself. She started to rub her shoulders to try and warm up. She heard him sigh and then the rustling of clothes. Her heartbeat started to race and her imagination started to run wild with horrific thoughts . . .

. . . but they stopped when she felt something large and warm drape around her, covering her. She touched the material and heard him sit back down in front of her. It was leather, his jacket. She pulled it tighter around her form, finding that it could easily cover her completely. She leaned back against the wall, the jacket now between her and the damp stone.

"Why?" Rikku asked.

"You were cold. And still tired." River said. "Get some sleep. I'm not going to hurt you." Rikku found that she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. They slowly closed, and she found herself drifting off . . .

* * *

_She was in the Thunder Plains with Yuna and Paine. Sphere waves had appeared in the area, and they had rushed to get there. They didn't want any __other teams getting it before them. Rikku had been reluctant about going. Sure, she had pretty much gotten over her fear of lightning, but that didn't mean she was in a hurry to go the the Thunder Plains._

_ They had been dropped off near Guadosalam. They didn't like going through Leblanc's territory, but the never ending storm in the Plains seemed to be worse than usual. So, rather than risk the Celsius, they'd been dropped off right in front of the once home of the Guado. _

_ As they walked through the somewhat creepy place, the three sphere hunters saw someone up on one of the higher bridges. Three people to be exact. One that Rikku would later know to be River, a man dressed in a long blue jacket, and someone, Rikku guessed it was a woman, wearing a black robe adorned with strange patterns and images. The hood had been pulled over her head._

_ The other two were talking, River was looking out towards the entrance to Guadosalam, and his single visible eye caught the trio. "Sphere hunters?" Yuna asked._

_ "Possibly. But still someone to be wary of, either way." Paine said._

_ "I think he knows you're talkin' 'bout him." Rikku said nervously._

_ "Good." Paine turned her crimson eyes to the younger girl. "At least he knows we notice him."_

_ Rikku looked back up at River, "Yeah . . I get the feeling he does."_

_ Yuna smiled, "Hey, if they try to take that sphere from us, we'll show 'em that they messed with the wrong team, right?"_

_ "Damn straight." Paine said with a nod._

_ Rikku shook her head, "I think he knows what we're sayin'." _

_ As they passed under the bridges, Yuna asked, "How?"_

_ Rikku shrugged, "I dunno. I just do." Yuna laughed quietly at how nervous her cousin seemed. _

_ "Don't worry about them, Riks." Yuna said, nudging her cousin with her elbow. "People don't start trouble for no reason."_

_ Paine rolled her eyes, "Yeah, well, if they're sphere hunters then they have a reason." they reached the tunnel leading to the Thunder Plains. _

_ "Alright." Yuna took a deep breath. "You two ready?" she asked. Paine uncrossed her arms and started down the tunnel. Yuna blinked and then started after her, "Wait up!"_

_ Rikku looked nervously back down towards the bridges and then __hurried after her cousin. The storm did seem a little worse. Lightning struck the towers more often, the thunder was louder, and the rain was coming down like a waterfall._

_ "Last chance to turn back." Paine said, leaning against the wall, looking out at the dark terrain. She looked down at Rikku. "Lot of lighting, huh?"_

_ Rikku scowled up at her partner and then looked back out at the storm, "It's now or never. Yunie?"_

_ Yuna nodded, "I'm not turning back now."_

_ Paine sighed, "I'll say something nice at the funerals." she stepped out into the downpour and the two girls followed. _

_ "I'd appreciate the sentiment." Rikku mumbled. Paine let out a quick laugh. They headed towards the area the sphere waves had appeared to be coming from. The rain, mixed with the little bit of dirt coating the rock, made the ground hard to walk on. Rikku fell more than once. Yuna and Paine both stumbled, but neither fell._

_ After an hour or so of searching, Rikku growled, "I one of you doesn't fall soon, I'm gonna push you!"_

_ "Push me," Paine said, "and you won't live to see you're next birthday."_

_ "A little drastic, huh Paine?" Yuna asked._

_ "No," the warrior shook her head, "not really." she stopped and turned around, fiery eyes searching the night. Rikku turned her head, trying to see what Paine was looking at, or for._

_ "What is it?" Yuna asked. Rikku scurried to get beside her cousin, the three were now all facing the same way._

_ "We're being followed." Paine said. "I'm sure of it."_

_ "Are you sure?" Rikku asked._

_ Paine shot the Al Bhed a look, "What did I _just _say?" _

_ Rikku cocked her head to the side, "Sorry. I'm just nervous." the ground suddenly shook, throwing the three off their feet and onto the ground._

_ "Well Rikku, you got you're wish." Yuna groaned._

_ "I blame blondie." Paine said, pushing herself back up. "What the hell was that?"_

_ "I have no idea." Rikku squeaked. "But it did not seem normal!"_

_ Paine suddenly started looking around, as if she had just realized __something, "Um, where are all the fiends?" Rikku looked around too. Paine was right. They hadn't seen a single fiend. _

_ The ground shook again, and a huge bolt of lighting ripped through the sky, an ear-splitting screech accompanied the lightning. The three girls covered their ears and screwed their eyes shut. An unnaturally massive roll of thunder sounded after. When the sound stopped the three found that their ears were ringing._

_ "Okay, back to the airship!" Paine yelled. The three girls climbed to their feet and took off for Guadosalam. The next thing Rikku remembered was a flash of light. When her vision cleared, she found that her ears were ringing again. She was laying on the ground, face staring up at the sky._

_ "Okay," she mumbled, "now I'm afraid of lightning again." she lifted herself slowly, her back was sore from hitting the ground so hard. There was a large hole in the ground, and she saw Yuna and Paine were lying on the ground not too far away. Paine was starting to get up, and Yuna was blinking, still in shock._

_ Another bolt of lightning hit a ways off. The ground exploded, sending rock flying through the air. She was about to try and get up when she felt a hand on her arm. Turning her head, she saw River kneeling beside her, one hand wrapped tightly around her arm._

_ He was looking up towards the sky, but looked down at Yuna and Paine, and then locked eyes with Rikku. That was when she first saw into his eye. It looked devoid of emotion. Empty, cold, even evil._

_ He stood, pulling her up, he lifted his free hand into the air and waved it, as if motioning for someone to move in that direction. He looked back up at the sky and Rikku tried to pull away, "Let me go!" she yelled. _

_ Paine heard Rikku yell and looked just in time to see River start pulling a screaming Rikku away. The ground began to shake again, but this time it didn't stop. A beam of light shone from the black clouds above and traced across the ground. Paine was about to go after Rikku just as another massive streak of lightning ripped the sky apart, and another screech and roar deafened her._

* * *

Rikku was jerked awake by the memory of the second, louder, roar. She was shivering, but not from the cold. She looked up, and realized that she could see. River was holding a globe of soft light in his right hand.

"You've been asleep for a good three hours." he said, never looking away from the light.

"River." Rikku said his name softly, it felt strange on her tongue. "What were those weird screams and lights?" she asked.

River looked away from the light, his eye met hers again, but he quickly looked back at the light, "A weapon."

Rikku frowned, "What kind of weapon?"

"One that shouldn't be here. One that I was supposed to destroy." he shook his head. "But we were interrupted."

"What do you mean?"

River shook his head, "It's not important." he said softly. He sighed, "It's been long enough." he looked at Rikku, but he didn't meet her gaze, "It's time to go."


	2. The Best Choices are the Worst Ideas

2: The Best Choices are the Worst Ideas

He kept the globe in his hand as he rose, but then the orb rose up into the air. River secured his scabbard to his belt and moved slowly towards the bend in the tunnel, towards the mouth of the cave.

Rikku started to stand up, but tripped over the very long jacket and fell. The leather material was stronger than it looked, she almost didn't feel the ground when she landed. River paused and turned around. His visible eyebrow was raised.

Rikku scowled, "You want this?" she asked. River walked back to her and, after helping her up, put his jacket back on. He moved back towards the mouth of the cave and leaned around the bend. He nodded and motioned for Rikku to follow before going around the corner.

The thief sighed and walked slowly after him. When she reached the cave entrance, she stopped dead beside River, "Welcome to my universe." River murmured.

A huge hole hole filled the center of the Thunder Plains. A large section of ground had collapsed into the hole, like a bridge leading out of some underworld.

"Wha- . . what happened?" Rikku gasped.

"The Gray Dawn. Though I doubt they did _this_."

"The who?" Rikku asked, still numb from the sight of the crater.

"The Gray Dawn is an army, formed for the sole purpose of forcefully establishing a totalitarian regime wherever it goes. If they can't, they just kill everything. Of course, after the first generation rebelled, they haven't had the funding nor the equipment to make their soldiers as good as they once were."

"How good were the originals?" Rikku asked.

River barred his teeth, "They were unstoppable."

"So why did they rebel?"

"They forced those that had volunteered to undergo rigorous, and hellish forms of training. They turned them into drones. The Hellfire Brigade was the worst. If it wasn't for a member of a lower team, they would never have fallen apart like they did."

River started away from the cave. Rikku shook herself and hurried after him. He walked quickly, taking long strides, forcing Rikku to nearly have to jog after him.

"Where are you going?" Rikku asked.

"I'm going to see where that hole leads."

"You're going in there?!" Rikku yelled.

River halted and wheeled around, "Must you talk so much? And so loudly?"

Rikku narrowed her eyes at him, "You kidnapped me, you deal with me!" she yelled. "And I'm not a pain to be around!"

"Yes you are. And you're free to leave anytime you feel." River said.

"Oh no! If you're tellin' the truth, then there's an army of bloodthirsty killers out there right now!" she realized something. "Where are they from?" she asked. "Bevelle couldn't have made them . . and I don't think-"

"Not important right now." River cut her off. "What's important in figuring out what made that hole, and where it goes." he said, pointing behind him.

"Well what could have made it?" Rikku asked.

"Whatever the hell stopped us from taking over the Gray Dawn's ship."

"Ship? You mean airship?" Rikku asked, trying to catch up with him. River didn't answer. He about-faced and marched towards the hole. "Was that the weapon you were talking about?" she asked. "What were they shooting at?"

River groaned, "Us, at first, but after that it was whatever stopped us from completing our objective."

"Well you're gonna find out what it is and kill it . . right?"

"If I can." River said. "If we can."

"We?"

"My team and I."

"You mean those two you were with earlier?" Rikku asked.

River stopped again. He balled both hands into fists, "If you don't stop asking me questions, I'm going to shoot you." he growled. The sound made Rikku swallow hard.

"Okay."

River took a deep breath, "Thank you." he lifted his foot to take a step forward when . . .

"What kind of gun do you have?"

* * *

Paine and Yuna were back in Guadosalam. When the ground had stopped shaking, something in the clouds had exploded. The two sphere hunters had taken that as their cue to leave. Though Paine had nearly had to drag Yuna, who had ignored her better judgment and wanted to go after her cousin.

They were both sitting on the bottom of the lowest bridge, both staring silently at the ground, lost in thought. Yuna was laying down. She'd hit her head when she fell and, even with a potion it would take a little for her to be able to stand without getting dizzy.

Paine had her face in her hands, she shook her head slowly, "I'm sorry, Yuna."

"I couldn't do anything either, it's not your fault."

"What the hell happened out there?" the warrior asked.

"I have no idea." Yuna sighed.

"I want the area searched completely and _thoroughly_. Dawn even pokes their silver heads, blow them off." a voice yelled through Guadosalam. Paine turned around, and immediately stood up.

More than twenty people, all wearing strange clothes and armor, were walking into Guadosalam. They walked passed the two, not even glancing at them. One thing Paine noted was their size. They were all tall, none shorter than six feet.

A single man walked slowly behind the group. He seemed to notice Yuna and Paine, she couldn't tell for sure. He was almost seven feet tall. Thin, round sunglasses covered his eyes. He wore a long, black coat, it hung down to his feet and was secured by a belt around his waist, leaving the upper portions somewhat open. A metal shoulder pad rested on his right shoulder, it had an eccentric pattern on it. It was black with silver lining on the edges and design. The sleeves were thin, and he wore black, fingerless gloves. He had black pants, from what she could tell, and black, loosely secured, combat boots. His hair, black as well, was spiked. The spikes were thin, and curved upwards and back. The hair over his ears and sideburns was spiked as well as the hair on the back of his neck, only these spikes were curved in the opposite direction of the rest. And, like all twenty people she'd just seen, and the man who took Rikku, he was very pale.

He sauntered passed the two. He turned his head slightly to look at Paine and Yuna. Yuna looked up at him, and noted that his coat, shoulder pad, and glasses looked similar to the ones Auron had worn.

"Excuse me." Yuna said. The man had already passed the two of them. He stopped.

"Yes?" he asked.

Yuna slowly propped herself up on her hands, "Do you know what just happened out there?"

He hesitated, but nodded, "Yes."

"And?" Paine asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She was tensed, waiting for this guy to give her an excuse to run him through. She had a feeling that he was affiliated with the guy who'd kidnapped Rikku.

He turned around slowly. His head was hung to the side, and his glasses slipped a little away from his eyes, which were dual-colored like Yuna's, only one was black, and the other a dark blue.

"I'm not at liberty to-"

"Spare me the bullshit!" Paine snapped.

"-discuss such matters at the moment." he finished anyway. "I know a guy like you. Only from what I can tell," his eyes met Paine's, "he's actually a little more patient than you." he grinned. "Of course, I try _not_ to piss him off. Doing so would be utterly disastrous to my health."

"What. Happened. Out. There." Paine growled. The man arched an eyebrow.

"Work on it." he said. He about faced and started towards the Thunder Plains. Paine stared dumbly at him. She seemed to snap out of it, her hands balled into fists and she clenched her teeth. She started walking, and then started to run. Her sword appeared in her hand and swerved in front of him, the tip of her blade at his throat.

"Don't be such a smartass." she hissed.

"Oh yeah. You two would really get along. That's his favorite nickname for me. Besides lecher . . ." he said, voice trailing off. Paine's eyes narrowed, both were alight with an angry fire. He sighed, "Fine. I wouldn't do this normally, but you're persistent. And you have the guts to pull a blade on me. Something that most people wind up regretting."

"I'm sure." Paine said slowly.

"Paine," Yuna's voice drew the warrior's attention. In the split second her eyes flicked to Yuna, the man grabbed her sword and wrenched it easily out of her hand. His free hand was suddenly on her throat, and he forced her against the wall.

"I respect that you're brave enough to try and threaten me, but while I should hurt you," his hand tightened around her throat, but not enough to choke her, "I've decided to go ahead and spare you." he let go of Paine and backed away. He raised her sword and then flung it down the tunnel. It landed on the ground and then vanished. "There's another reason, besides curiosity, that you want this information," he turned his head to look at Yuna, "isn't there?"

Yuna nodded, this guy was dangerous, not many people could do that to Paine. She didn't think that she was in any present danger, but she couldn't be sure.

"My cousin, Rikku, she was kidnapped."

"By a guy who, I get the strange feeling, is affiliated with you in some way." Paine said, she was rubbing her throat, and eyeing the man maliciously.

He turned back to face Paine, "Black jacket, or blue robe?" he asked.

"Jacket." Paine answered.

"_Acch_!" the way he said it made it sound like he was cursing. He pushed his glasses back up over his eyes and shook his head. "What the hell is he thinking?"

"So . . you know him?" Yuna asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, he was the guy I was talking about. His name is River. And I have no idea why he took your cousin, or where he is now. Then again, he did contact me, saying he saw something. I don't know what, and I'm under the impression he doesn't know either."

"He made a signal with his hand too, right before he took Rikku." Paine said.

"Probably signaling Epsilon and Sabriel." he said to himself.

"What was he doing out there anyway?" Paine asked. "And what happened?"

He nodded, "We were trying to stop an old annoyance. We've been following a rouge army called the Gray Dawn. We managed to cut this group down to one ship. It was fleeing us, and flew right into the storm out there. What happened next was a fight between one of our ships and there's. After that . . I have no idea."

Paine blinked, "Ship?"

"_That_ I really can't explain. It would entail a much larger explanation, and I don't have the time for that. We think some of our people may be scattered across the Thunder Plains. Our ship was destroyed, but we did register that survival pods had been activated."

"So if you find Rikku and . . River, then what?" Yuna asked.

He shrugged, "Well, I'm guessing he was protecting her from something, but that's just a guess. It's not like he'd hurt her."

"Don't tell me you believe him?!" Paine exclaimed, looking at Yuna.

Yuna bit her lower lip and shrugged, "What reason do we have not to?"

"The fact that his friend just kidnapped your cousin!" Paine paused. "Oh well, his punishment is just going to be being around her."

"Irritating?" the man asked.

Paine nodded, "You have no idea."

The man turned to look down the tunnel and sighed, "Tell you what." he turned back to Yuna and Paine. "The threat is gone at the present. If you want, you can come with me and I'll help you find your cousin."

Yuna looked up at Paine. The warrior took a deep breath and nodded, "Fine."

The man nodded, "Alright then. By the way, my name is Matth." he said.

Yuna slowly stood up. She rubbed the back of her head, "Yuna. And that's Paine."

Matth looked back at the warrior, "No joke."

* * *

River crouched down near the entrance to the hole. Rikku crouched down beside him and tried to look down the hole. It was pitch black, and Rikku found it impossible to see almost anything.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "It's not like you can see anything down there." she said, looking over at River. He rolled his eye. "What! You can see?" she asked, pointing into the hole.

"If something hears you and comes out, I'll just feed you to it." he said.

Rikku froze. She slowly crawled backwards, away from the edge, "Well what do you think could be down there? Besides fiends of course."

"No idea." he said. "Though I get the impression that it's a lot more dangerous than your average fiend." he said. He stood up and drew his sword. The hilt was gold, as was the guard. Two pieces of metal rose up and connected to a ring looping around the lower part of the blade. The blade itself was a shining steel, and didn't have a mark on it. The tip was not a curve, it was a sharp point.

He slowly started down into the hole, moving his feet a little at a time down the steep ramp leading into the darkness below. "Hey!" Rikku called after him. "What about me? There is no way I'm going in there, and you can't just leave me out here! What about those Gray guys?"

River stopped, "You can either stay up there, or come down here. I'm going into the hole." he looked back up at her. "Your choice." he said before starting down again.

Rikku groaned. She bit her lower lip and looked around nervously. She even started bobbing up and down on her feet. Finally she gave in and stepped onto the ramp. The rock was steep, and slippery, and she immediately slipped.

She yelled as she slid down the ramp, but stopped when she felt River grab her arm. She looked down the hole, and then back up at him. She grinned nervously.

He lifted her back up, and helped her onto her feet. She immediately grabbed onto his jacket, "Thanks." she muttered.

River shook his head, "You went too fast." he said.

Rikku nodded, "Hey, you can see, right?" she asked. River nodded. "Well . . then how long until we can walk?" she asked.

"At this rate of movement . . about five minutes." River said.

"How far can you see?"

"To the bottom, but not much more than that." he said. After that, they moved in silence. The storm was still raging above, and the rain was pouring into the hole, and running down the ramp. The rain, the occasional clap of thunder, and the sound of River's boots sliding across the rock, were the only things she could hear.

After two minutes, which felt much longer, she zoned out.

"Hey!" she heard River's voice.

"Huh?" she asked, snapping back into reality.

"We're at the bottom." he said simply. He helped her to the cave floor before stepping off the rock himself. He lifted his hand and a globe of light formed and soared overhead.

Rikku snorted, "Yeah, you wait until now to do that." River just sighed. Rikku watched the globe fly upwards, illuminating more and more of the cave. The two quickly found out that it wasn't just a cave, it was a tunnel. It looked as if it had been carved by something big. It moved downwards at a gentle angle.

Rikku hugged herself, the rain that had now drenched her . . again . . plus the cold air in the tunnel, and the thought of what did this, was making her shiver, "You really wanna go down there?" she asked.

River nodded, "Only way to tell what destroyed our ship. And find what did this."

Rikku laughed nervously, "You're either really brave, or really stupid."

River turned his head to look at her, "I think stubborn is a better word." he started down the tunnel, sword hanging at his side. Rikku groaned and started after him. She dropped her arms to her sides and felt her daggers materialize in her hands.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked.

"Let me put it this way, the best choices are rarely the best ideas."

"So . . no?"

"Pretty much."


End file.
